The name Kannur may have been derived from Kanathur, an ancient village. Another opinion holds that Kannur was originally a portmanteau derived from two Malayalam words: Kannan (Krishna), a Hindu deity, and Ur (place)—making it "the place of Lord Krishna." One support for this theory is that the deity of the Kadalayi Sriracha Temple was originally installed in a shrine at Kadalayi Kotta in the southeastern part of the present Kannur town. During the British Raj, the city was known as Cannanore, the anglicised form of the Malayalam word Kannur.[4]

Kannur was an important trading center in the 12th century, with active business connections with Persia and Arabia. It served as the British military headquarters on India's west coast until 1887. In conjunction with its sister city, Tellicherry, it was the third largest city on the western coast of British India in the 18th century after Bombay and Karachi.

Kannur is a very ancient city which used to be one of the three important cities of the whole western Indian sub continent 200 years ago; competing with Bombay and Karachi. It is said to be that the Loud Sage – the ship of King Solomon had anchored off the coast of Kannur to gather wood for the construction of the Temple of the Lord. Kannur's name has mentions in the Periplus of the Eritrean Naura and sea, a work of the great Greek antiquity.

The original city of Kannur was under Kerala's only Muslim Royal dynasty called the Arakkal Sultanate and it was their capital. This area is still known as Kannur City. The modern town is referred as Kannur Town. Kannur, as a district and surrounding areas were mostly ruled by the famous Kolathiri rajas (kings). When the state of Kerala was formed the district took the name Kannur, since the administrative offices were established here. Before that, Kannur was under the Chirakkal Taluk of Madras state under British rule. When the British dominated this part of the world, they preferred Madras and Cochin as their major stations and Kannur started to lose its old glory. The people of Kannur are still waiting for their old glory to get back and they feel they are being sidelined because the state administration is located exactly opposite side of the state.

Kannur was known to the Chinese, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Hebrews and Arabs thousands of years back and it was used to be the trading hub for mainly spices, timbers, etc. It was the only place in entire India (!!!) which was targeted by Portuguese, Dutch, French, British and Germans and used for trading by Arabs, Hebrews, Persians, etc. for reasons unknown and no clear history to go back and verify. The border town of Kannur district named Mahe is still called French Mahe, because it was ruled by French and is under Pondicherry not under Kerala Government. The Portuguese built their first fort in Kannur, possibly because Kannur was their main target in India. Since Kannur was the biggest town in the western Indian Sub Continent, up to 200 years back, the city must have been well known outside India and become a target for the European traders. Kannur and its twin sister town Thalassery are well known for their distinct food dishes, which display an elegant combination of food styles from the native territory, as well as from the territories that traded with them.

The guerrilla war by Pazhassi Raja, the ruler of Kottayam province, against the British had a huge impact in the history of Kannur. Changes in the socio-economic and political sectors in Kerala during the initial decades of 20th century created conditions congenial for the growth of the Communist Party. Extension of English education initiated by Christian missionaries in 1906 and later carried forward by government, rebellion for wearing a cloth to cover upper parts of body, installing an idol at Aruvippuram in 1888, Malayali Memorial in 1891, establishment of SNDP Yogam in 1903, activities, struggles etc. became factors helpful to accelerate changes in Kerala society during a short time. Movements for liberation from the colonial rule of British imperialism and struggles launched by these movements grew with them.

Very soon, ideas about socialism and Soviet Revolution reached Kerala. Such ideas got propagated in Kerala through the works of Swadeshabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai, Sahodaran Ayyappan, P. Kesavadev and others.By the beginning of the 1930s some other useful developments were taking place. Important among them was Nivarthana Agitation in Travancore. That was the demand of people suppressed so far as untouchables and weaker sections for participation in government. This brought to the forefront struggles like proportional representation in government and reservation of jobs. This imparted a new enthusiasm among oppressed masses.[6]

Kannur, particularly the rural areas, has been referred to[7] as a stranglehold[8] of the left parties – locally known as 'party gramam'. Gramam means 'village' and usually denote local allegiance to only one party. Kannur has a strong presence of trade unions as well as left-leaning organizations.[9][10][11] However, other parties also have strong influence.[12]

Kannur is the most politically volatile district in Kerala. Though Kannur is home to highly talented political leaders in the past including very talented two chief ministers Mr. K. Karunakaran and Mr. E. K Nayanar, central ministers E. Ahmed, C. M. Ebrahim, Venugopal, etc., the benefits of development was very slow to reach the place.

5 ministers out of 20 in the present government are from Kannur including the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan from Pinarayi village represents Dharmadam Constituency in Kannur. Since formation of the state, roughly half who occupied the Chief Minister's office had some sort of connection to the district.

According to the 2011 census of India,[16] Kannur city has a population of 56,823. Males constitute 46.2% of the population and females 53.8%. Kannur has an average literacy rate of 96.23%, higher than the national average of 74.04%. Male literacy is 98% and female literacy is 94%. In Kannur, 12% of the population is under six years of age.

Hindus form the majority of the population with 32,026 members forming 56.3% of the population.[16] There are 21,557 Muslims forming 37.9% of the population.[16] Christians form 5% of the population with 2,892 members.[16] The Anglo-Indian community in Kannur live mainly in the Kannur Cantonment of Burnacherry and it's surrounding areas of Thillery, No.3 Bazaar and Camp Bazaar. Malayalam is the administrative and local language.

V-Pra Kaayal Floating park / V-Pra Park is a project from District Tourism Promotional Council DTPC. It is a Park which is beautifully constructed on top of Vayalapra kaayal. V-Pra park is one of the beautiful places in kannur district to spend with your family and children.

Baby Beach is so called because it is smaller than its larger neighbour, Payyambalam Beach. St. Angelo Fort is adjacent to it. The baby beach is part of the Kannur Cantonment and access may be restricted at times.

Choottad beach is one of the stunning beach which kerala state tourism dept has recently developed with Choottad beach Park which have children park,rower boats,buggy ride and more....wonderful place for close sunset vision...

St. Angelo Fort was built in 1505 by the first Portuguese Viceroy of India, Dom Francisco de Almeida. In 1663, the Dutch captured it and then in 1772, they sold the fort to the Arakkal King. In 1790, the British captured it, and it was under the British until 1947.

Kannur International Airport is being constructed at Mattanur in Kannur District, Kerala, India. It is the fourth international airport in Kerala. The airport will have a 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) runway (the longest in the State) and state of the art passenger terminal as well other amenities. It will be well connected by a comprehensive network of roads and a proposal for railway line has also been mooted. In the 2016–17 Union Railway budget, ₹400 crore (US$59 million) were dedicated for under Extra Budgetary Resource (EBR) in which a part of the bill will be borne by the State Government towards the railway line.

Many local cable television channels are available in Kannur. The most popular cable channels are City Channel, City Gold, City Juke, Network Channel(s), Zeal Network, Kannur Vision, World Vision, Worldvision Music, Chakkarakkal, and Gramika channel Koothuparamba.

All India Radio is broadcast in Kannur at 101.5 MHz. Private FM radio stations in Kannur include: